Illusions

“Forget it,” Chelsea said. “I can see it bothers you. I’m sorry I said anything. Please don’t be mad.”

“No,” Laurel said, climbing to her feet and extending a hand to help Chelsea up. “It’s okay. I’m glad you said something. Really. Are things that bad between you and Ryan? You haven’t said anything about his scores in a while. I figured that got sorted out.”

“More like swept under the rug,” Chelsea said, shrugging. “Anyway, let’s go get some food in you.”

But suddenly food wasn’t even on the list of things Laurel was thinking about. With the mystery of the trolls’ cabin, the unsolved puzzle of the blue powder, and Yuki’s constant presence, Laurel hadn’t had the time — much less the energy — to think about something like the winter formal. But now that Chelsea had brought it up, it somehow took priority. Laurel wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to do, but her mind was screaming at her to do something.

The noise of the cafeteria assaulted her ears as she studied the tops of the students’ heads, looking for David. He was pretty easy to spot, sitting beside Ryan, the two of them head and shoulders above most of the other kids around them. Chelsea got in the hot lunch line while Laurel strode over and tapped David on the shoulder.

“Hey!” he said, turning to her with a grin. So friendly. David was a model of platonic affection — except for the longing in his eyes. She wasn’t sure she wanted to lose that. Ever.

“Can I talk to you? Somewhere quieter?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, getting up a little too quickly.

They walked together until they found a somewhat secluded section of the hallway.

“Is everything all right?” David asked, touching her shoulder.

“I—” Now that she had him here she wasn’t sure she’d be able to squeak out any words at all. “I was wondering…” She took a deep breath and blurted, “Have you asked anyone to the winter formal?” Only as the words tumbled out of her mouth did she realize she’d made up her mind.

Surprise was evident on his face. She wondered if it was mirrored on her own.

“I was just thinking… I was hoping maybe we could go. Sorry if it seems awkward, I just think we shouldn’t let this… stuff… totally destroy our social life and I figured maybe—” She forced her mouth shut before she babbled any more.

“What exactly are you asking me, Laurel?” David asked, studying the tops of his shoes.

And with those few words, Laurel realized what she’d just done. She’d asked David on a date. What did that mean for them? What did it mean for Tamani? Her head spun and she was confused again. She looked down, avoiding his eyes. Not that it really mattered; he wasn’t looking at her, either. “I just want to go to the dance with you, David. As… as friends,” she tacked on, thinking of Tamani.

He hesitated and for a moment Laurel thought he might turn her down.

“Okay,” he said at last, nodding. “That would be great.” Then he was smiling and his eyes were shining with hope. Laurel wondered if she’d made a huge mistake.

But part of her was just glad he’d said yes.

“What day do you finish finals?” Tamani asked, flipping idly through Laurel’s Government textbook while she rummaged through the fridge for something to eat.

“Friday,” Laurel said, wondering if Tamani had ever done more than flip randomly through any of his schoolbooks. “Friday morning. After that I get the rest of the day off.”

“Are you going to go to that dance on Saturday — the winter formal?”

Laurel looked up at him, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “What exactly are you asking me?” She knew they couldn’t go together — it was too dangerous — but she was suddenly feeling a painful sort of deja vu.

“Well, Yuki sort of… expects that we’re going together. I never asked her, but she’s practically planned the whole thing already. She wanted me to ask if we could go as a group again. I guess she really enjoyed that, in spite of how it ended. I know you’re not with David anymore, so it’s okay if—”

“No, it’s fine,” Laurel said. She wondered how hard it had been for Tamani to even imply that she ought to pair up with David for something. “I actually already talked to David about it. We’re going together. As friends,” she added, before Tamani could read too much into this bit of news. “So a group thing would be nice. But let’s not invite the trolls this time.”

“Don’t worry,” Tamani said. “I’ve got it all figured out. No more troll ambushes. No more last-minute rescues by persons of questionable integrity. We’ll have two squads shadowing us all night, in addition to the ones behind your house, watching the cabin, making rounds through the city, watching traffic on the 101 and the 199, plus reserves standing by.”

Laurel stared at him, mouth agape, eyes wide. “How many sentries are here now?”

“About two hundred.”

Two hundred!

“I’m done playing games,” Tamani said darkly. “We had two squads in Crescent City when Barnes tried to grab you and David last year. We had three behind your house when he lured them off and snatched Chelsea. There were almost a hundred sentries in place two months ago and we still had trolls ambush us within a mile of your house. Any troll that tries to crash this party will be dead before it lays eyes on you.”

“Or Yuki,” Laurel added.

“Or Yuki,” Tamani agreed. “Or Chelsea, or anyone. It doesn’t matter who they’re after. The only thing I want trolls doing in Crescent City is dying.”

“Does that mean Shar is going to raid the cabin?” Laurel didn’t like talking so directly about killing — even trolls — but she had to admit she wasn’t feeling very sympathetic lately. Absently, she picked up a petal — one of her own — from a decorative silver bowl on the counter. Her mother had preserved several with hairspray and left them out where the sun could hit them, lending a hint of their beautiful perfume to the kitchen air.

“He keeps saying we should wait. I hate waiting,” Tamani said, “but I doubt he’ll wait much longer. It’s been almost a month and we haven’t learned anything.”

“Maybe we can start a club,” Laurel said ruefully. “I haven’t learned anything useful about the powder, either.”

“What about the phosphorescent?”

“Honestly? I haven’t tried anything new since I mixed it with your sap. I think individual faeries of the same season might differ as much as faeries of different seasons. I’d probably have to test half of Avalon before I could draw useful conclusions.”

Realizing she was digging her fingernails into the petal, Laurel forced herself to relax. She’d left four little half-moon gouges in the otherwise unblemished field of blue. Dropping it back into the bowl, Laurel rubbed her fingers together, wiping away the tiny droplet of moisture that hadn’t yet dried out of the preserved petal.

She paused for a second, and then rubbed her fingers again.

“No way,” she whispered, almost to herself, half forgetting that Tamani was even in the room.

He started to talk, but she held up one finger and concentrated on the essence that lingered at the tips of her fingers. It had to be. She was amazed she hadn’t figured it out before.

Talk about the answer being right under your nose.

Snatching the petal back out of the bowl, Laurel bounded out of the kitchen and took the stairs two at a time. She pulled her last dish of blue powder forward and forced herself to breathe evenly.

“Is everything all right?” Tamani asked, appearing in her doorway.

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to stop her hands from shaking. She licked her finger and collected a few grains of the blue powder. She rubbed them against the fingers on her other hand. The sensation was almost identical.

“What—”

“The main ingredient of the powder. The one I’ve been looking for. The flowering tree. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. I even knew it was possible,” she said. “I knew after you kissed me that day, that faeries could be used as ingredients, and I never even considered—”

“Laurel!” Tamani said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “What is it?”

Laurel held up the long, light-blue petal she’d taken from the bowl. “It’s this,” she said, hardly believing the words coming out of her own mouth. “It’s faerie blossom.”

“But… Yuki hasn’t blossomed — at least, not since we started hanging out. If she had…” Tamani wiggled his